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• Flights from anywhere in the United States and flights between countries as per your itinerary. (all necessary flights on your trip are included)
• Daily Mass will be scheduled.
• Airport taxes, security fees & fuel surcharges saving you an average of $400-$600!
• Transfers as per itinerary.
• 4 or 5 star hotels in downtown areas.
• Transportation with luxury bus.
• All breakfasts and all dinners. Wine included with all dinners.
• All tips to driver, hotel, and tour guide. If you feel that the tour guide did a great job, offering them extra tips is greatly appreciated.
• Guided tours and tour fees ~ Our tour guides are very caring, licensed, and well educated. Many of our guides have their PhDs.
• Luggage handling (1 suitcase and 1 carry-on per person)
• Single Supplement If the passenger wants a guaranteed room of their own, they have to pay $1100 for a single supplement. As long as the passenger is willing to room with someone and allows us to provide them with a roommate the single supplement does not apply.
• Remember: Our trips are not more expensive during high season ~ Passengers will never be expected to pay extra for anything while on the trip.
• NOTE: If you wish to deepen your knowledge of the Catholic Faith as a preparation for this pilgrimage, we recommend the following book as it is faithful to the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church (Imprimatur by ARCHBISHOP FELIPE AGUIRRE FRANCO): The Catholic Faith in Easy Terms. Introduction, Nihil Obstat, and Imprimatur by Archbishop Felipe Aguirre Franco.

• Lunch
• Trip Insurance. Work directly with Travel Guard to protect your investment and insure your money. There are different packages to choose from depending on your travel needs. Use the above link or the link right below the picture of the pope on our home page to visit their site.

1. Call us (855) 842-8001 or register online with a credit card and pay your $500 deposit per person to save your spot. The $500 deposit is part of the total price of the trip.
2. A $1,000 Additional Deposit (AD) per person is due one month from the registration. The AD is paid ONLY in the form of check (personal, money order, or bank check).
3. The balance is due 4 months before the trip departure date. The balance is paid ONLY in the form of check (personal, money order, or bank check).

Proximo Travel
PO Box 561
Auburn, MA 01501

Day 1: Departure from USA.

Day 2: Istanbul. Welcome to Istanbul, a city with a mysterious past, where East meets West and a myriad of cultures blended all into an unmatched splendor. Enjoy first views on the way to our Hotel located right in the heart of town. Overnight in Istanbul. Dinner at your Hotel.

Day 3: Istanbul. Our full day tour of the old city begins as we step onto the grounds of the Topkapi Palace, the last residence of the Ottoman Turks. Poised on the hilltop of the Golden Horn, it beckoned home the sultans of old and today it has that same magnetic appeal. Just around the corner we will visit St. Sophia—, the original structure was built by Constantine in 326 A.D., and for 916 years it functioned as a Christian church. With its 184’ dome, mosaics and frescoes, it is considered an architectural wonder. Of it, Justinian stated, “Solomon, I have surpassed you.” Across the street we enter the Yerebatan Sarayi(Underground Cisterns) built during the time of Justinian I and probably by Christians when one considers the manner in which many of the temple columns and capitals are placed. From here we take a short walk along the Hippodrome built in the times of Byzantium for horse and chariot races. Today, on the site of the imperial box seats, is the William II Fountain, and monuments line the field where once as many as 100,000 sat or stood and cheered at athletic competitions. As we continue our walk, we reach Sultanahmet Mosque better known as the Blue Mosque, a name derived from its exquisite, blue-colored tiles decorating the interior of the building, which is further distinguished by its six minarets. This afternoon, we head to the Grand Covered Bazaar, a maze of streets and shops under an intricately painted, vaulted roof. It is a world unto itself abounding in the sights, aroma and sounds of old Turkey. Overnight in Istanbul.

Day 4: Fly to Kayseri, drive to Cappadocia. Breakfast at the hotel and early departure to drive to the airport for your domestic flight to Kayseri. We will drive to Cappadocia,a unique landscape! Drive to a hotel in Cappadocia for dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Cappadocia. Today you may have an optional Hot-Air Balloon Ride Cappadocia is one of Turkey’s most fanciful and recognizable landscapes, and during this optional hot-air balloon flight, we’ll soar over its amber terrain and fairy-tale chimneys, savoring a unique panorama in the quiet, rosy light of dawn. After breakfast,this morning we will drive to Kaymaklı Underground City .During the Hittite era, as successive armies swept across Asia Minor, underground cities were built as a uniquely defensible community, approximately eight stories underground. We can explore some of the hundreds of rooms, wandering the many narrow, sloping passageways between kitchens with enameled food storage areas, water cisterns, stables, and living spaces—all well ventilated by air shafts. At one time, several thousand people lived here. Following our underground city discovery, we'll see more of this scenic area of Cappadocia.Such as Pasabag Highly remarkable earth pillars can be seen here, in the middle of a vineyard, hence the name of the place which means: the Pacha's vineyard. Pacha means "General", the military rank, in Turkish and it is a very common nickname. This site is also called Monks Valley.Dinner and overnight in Cappadocia.

Day 6: Cappadocia, Konya. We will be at the famous Goreme “open-air museum,” a group of ancient churches carved from the rock. Most of these chapels have colorful frescoes inside, which date from the tenth to the 13th centuries. Then we will drive shortly to Uchisar Castle which is the panoramic viewing point Cappadocia. Many rooms, steps, tunnels and galleries inside the castle. Avanos, the latter providing us with the opportunity to purchase some of the hand-turned pottery and tile that has been shaped here for millennia and some of the techniques still used date back to Hittite times to 2000 BC. This afternoon we will drive to Konya. We have an opportunity to visit a modern church called St. Paul Church in Konya. Paul and Barnabas visited the city on Paul's first missionary journey (Acts 13:51–14:7). Here they preached in the synagogue and then the city. After about three months the opposition became so great that they had to flee for their lives to Lystra and Derbe. Paul revisited the city on his second (Acts 16:2) and probably third journeys. Iconium is situated at the western edge of the great Anatolian plateau at an elevation of 3,600 feet (1,100 m.) and roads from the east, especially from Cilicia (Tarsus) gather to it. Dinner and overnight at Konya.

Day 7: Pisidian Antioch, Pamukkale. From Iconium we drive to Pisidian Antioch .The history of Pisidian Antioch goes back to some time between 310-280 BC. The first Biblical reference to this city is Paul’s mention of it in Acts 13:14-16 as the synagogue from which he preached his first recorded sermon during his first missionary journey.The day ends at Pamukkale for dinner and overnight.

Day 8: Hierapolis, Laodicea, Kusadasi. In Hierapolis(Pamukkale) the dazzling white hillside is a major tourist site today and probably even in ancient times. The first reference to it in the New Testament associates the city and the church there with the work of Epaphras, who in prison later became acquainted with Paul. Laodicea was at the crossroads of north-south traffic between Sardis and Perge and east-west traffic from the Euphrates to Ephesus. From this advantageous location, the city became wealthy. John cited very harsh warnings of the “lukewarm” attitude of the church here (Revelation 3:15-17).Our touring day ends at Kusadasi.

Day 9: Ephesus. Ephesus, site of the world’s largest excavated ruins, will amaze you with how vividly you can imagine the ancient city. Close your eyes for a moment and realize here the Apostles once walked along streets lined with wonderful public buildings such as the Baths of Scholastica, the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian and the Theater and the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders. Later we will visit St. John’s Basilica where the Apostle John is buried and the Ephesus Museum, site of some of the best treasures of antiquity found in this region. Smyrna (Izmir) Old Smyrna was located just across the bay from present day Izmir. Polycarp, bishop from 115 to 156 AD, was one of the earliest members of the church at this site. There are several contemporary accounts of him and some of his own writings still preserved. In a letter to the Philippians he warned them “…the love of money is the root of all evil.” A martyr, he was important to the early church as a preserver of the purity of the gospel. John told the Christians in Smyrna not to be afraid to suffer, but “…be faithful till death…” (Revelation 2:10-11) Dinner at the hotel. Overnight in Kusadasi.

Day 10: Smyrna, Pergamum. Drive to Smyrna which holds a significant place in early church history. It was the home of several early martyr-saints, including Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. Continue to Pergamum. Here we will visit Asklepion and the Acropolis. Return to Izmir for dinner and overnight.

Day 11: Fly back home.

Please note: We do our best to ensure that all sites listed in this itinerary will be seen. However, due to scheduling conflicts, or other circumstances beyond our control, sites may be visited on a different day than listed. If this happens it will also necessitate a change in the restaurant for dinner. However, we will never sacrifice the quality of the meal, all restaurants will meet Proximo Travel's very high standards. Since we have several different trip configurations touring at the same time, it is likely that groups on different tours will be combined when their itineraries overlap in certain areas.